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Phone of the Wind

by Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue

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Cosmographer
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Cosmographer Whenever Jen Shyu releases new music is a time to celebrate. I know of only a handful of contemporary artists who combine performance acumen and the utmost rigor of imagination, technique and knowledge to produce music this beautiful and life-affirming. This astonishing track, a product of grief, could literally have been only written and performed by her. Jen’s achievement lies in how masterfully she pulls off music that stands well within tradition while sounding uniquely like herself. Favorite track: Phone of the Wind.
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about

In memory of Tsu Pin Shyu | 徐澤濱 (1941 - 2019) and Ana Shyu | 徐婀娜 (1944 - 2021)

The author of this poem is Itaru Sasaki. I first heard about Mr. Sasaki and the famed "Phone of the Wind" or "Kaze no denwa" 風の電話, from my set designer of "Nine Doors," my 2nd solo theatrical work, which we were meeting about in January 2017. I was to premiere the work in June 2017, and as soon as I learned more about the "Phone of the Wind" and the man behind it, Itaru Sasaki, I was determined to meet him and make a pilgrimage to this phone booth in the garden.

By a stroke of destiny, I was actually already scheduled to perform in Japan, just a week after this meeting with my Nine Doors tech team. I scheduled 2 extra weeks after this performance with one of my goals being to meet Mr. Sasaki.

Through a series of mystical meetings through friends of Asian Cultural Council and monks who happened to live in the same town as Mr. Sasaki, I was able to meet Mr. Sasaki and his wife in Otsuchi, a small town in the Iwate prefecture of Japan which was devastated in the 2011 tsunami. During this conversation, he told me about a poem he had written about his "Phone of the Wind" in his garden, and I asked if he would allow me write to music to his poetry. He said yes and thus this piece was born through my exploration of the Japanese biwa, which I had started learning around that time with Arai Shisui with whom I continue to study. The great playwright, director, and actor Aya Ogawa translated the poem into English before I composed the work.

Watch the music video of "Phone of the Wind" by Mariana Meraz here: youtu.be/CQ1-0yFKPAU

The learn more about the 風の電話 (Phone of the Wind), you can watch the moving documentary here: www.dailymotion.com/video/x6uepb9

lyrics

If you download this track, I will send you Itaru Sasaki's poetry as the English translation by Aya Ogawa. Thank you!

credits

released December 2, 2022
Released on Autumn Geese Records Dec. 2, 2022:
jenshyu.bandcamp.com/track/phone-of-the-wind

“Phone of the Wind”
Poetry by Itaru Sasaki, translated into English by Aya Ogawa
feat. Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue:
Jen Shyu: composition, vocals, Japanese biwa
Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet
Mat Maneri, viola
Thomas Morgan, bass
Dan Weiss, drums

Recorded, edited, mixed, and mastered by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio, NYC
Produced by Jen Shyu

Ⓒ Chiuyen Music 2021 (ASCAP)

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about

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Jen Shyu New York, New York

Guggenheim Fellow, USA Fellow, Doris Duke Artist, multilingual vocalist-composer-multi-instrumentalist-actor-dancer JEN SHYU has produced 8 albums, performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art & is a Fulbright scholar speaking 10 languages. Her Song of Silver Geese was among NYTimes' Best Albums of 2017. Co-founder of mutualmentorshipformusicians.org & a Steinway Artist. ... more

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